This invention relates generally to fishing lures of the type generically known as fly fishing lures wherein the weight of the fishing line is primarily used in the placement and casting of the lure, and the lure is intended to represent an insect or similar natural fish bait. More particularly, the invention pertains to a design and method for making fly fishing lures that are supported on a water surface by the surface tension of the water, commonly known as dry flies.
Conventional flies, such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,411,089, and as described in J. Edson Leonard, Flies (1950), pp. 1-9, are tied on a hook having an eye at one end for tying the fishing line leader. Typically, the hook has a substantially straight shank, which commences from the base of the eye, a curved portion known as the shape, which proceeds accurately from the end of the shank opposite the eye, and a spear portion or bite which has a point and can include a barb. Typically, as a result of the arcuate shape, the spear and the shank are substantially parallel and lie within the same plane, although the spear can be bent or offset to one side. The eye is generally oriented transversely, i.e., in a plane normal to the plane of the shank and shape of the hook. It can be parallel to the shank, or inclined towards or away from the point, depending upon the desired action of the hook.
Once the desired hook has been selected, common fly materials are fastened to the hook in a commonly known fashion (see Flies, pp. 32-42) to form the parts of a fly. These parts include all or most of the following: a tail, a body, a hackle, and wings, depending on the insect to be imitated. In some patterns, the tail or wings or both are omitted. All dry fly patterns, however, use hackles to help support the fly on the water surface.
Typically in a dry fly, such as a May fly imitation, wings are attached to the shank just behind the eye; a hackle is wound axially around the shank adjacent the wings so as to protrude radially normal to the shank; and body and tail material are tied on the shank between the wings and/or hackle and the shape of the hook. A head is usually formed adjacent the eye. Variations in dry fly design include Palmer, with hackle wound fore and aft around the shank, and parachute hackle arrangements, wherein hackle is wound around a wing positioned near the hook eye. A reverse fly design is also known, in which the fly is arranged with the tail protruding forward around the eye of the hook, the hackle wound axially around the shank adjacent the shape, and wings positioned on the shank among the hackles and directed oppositely of the bend of the hook.
There are two common procedures for fastening the fly tying materials to the hook. The first technique begins by tying a silk thread to the shank near the eye and winding thread rearward along the shank to the beginning of the shape, which is usually held in a vise. The tail, commonly made of hackle quill, is then secured to the end of the shank along with the body material, which typically consists of silk floss, fur, peacock hurl or quill or a variety of other materials. The thread is then advanced toward the eye, and the body material is wrapped around the shank toward the eye. The body is then tied off with the thread. The wings and hackle are then secured to the shank just behind the eye. The hackle is wrapped axially around the shank so that the hackle fibers extend radially out from the shank. Finally, the hackle is tied off, typically with a whip finisher, to knot the thread and create the illusion of a head.
The second technique begins by securing the thread to the middle of the shank and winding the thread towards the eye. Wings are then mounted on the shank and secured to the shank by winding thread around the wing and the shank. A drop of cement is then placed on the thread and allowed to dry until tacky, and then the stem of a hackle feather is placed on the cement. The thread is then wound around the hackle several times. The thread is then wound along the shank rearward from the eye to the beginning of the shape. At this point, the tail is attached, using the thread, so that the tail is oriented away from and colinear to the shank. Next, the body is wrapped along the length of the shank, moving from the shape toward the eye, secured to the shank with thread at both ends. The hackle is then wound axially around the shank behind and in front of the wings. After the hackle has been wound, the hackle is secured to the shank with several windings of silk and a drop of cement. The resulting fly has its "head" near the eye of the hook, and its "tail" at the other end of the shank. The fly also has developed a particular orientation, which has the wings on "top" of the fly and the point is on the "bottom", i.e., the shank is between the wings and the point.
One limitation to the aforementioned fly design is due to the point orientation with respect to the rest of the fly. Because the point is beneath the shank, in the fly's natural orientation, the point of the hook penetrates the surface film, as illustrated in FIG. 10. The fly is more easily wetted, inhibiting floatability, and the hook can snag on material as it moves through the water. This is especially true when the fly is of the wet-type, which moves under the surface of the water but also occurs with dry flies. A variety of "weedless" or inverted flies, like that discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,690,029, attempt to resolve this problem by changing the natural orientation of the hook, with respect to the body of the fly, so that the shank of the hook lies beneath the barb. This is accomplished through the use of a special angular hook with a shank that is not straight but is angled so that the center of gravity of the fly lies below the fly material. This helps to maintain the spear of the hook pointed "upwardly," away from any objects on the stream beds. However, when this technique is applied to dry flies, "there is a tendency for dry flies not to maintain the desired vertical orientation . . . and additional orientation means are desirable." In addition, for economic reasons, as well as to use thin hook wire for lightness, what is desired is for the fly to use standard straight-shanked hooks, rather than the angled-shank hooks described in the aforementioned patent. The weedless variety of flies also changes the natural orientation of the hook, at the expense of exposing a portion of the hook so that it can break the surface film. This is undesirable in dry flies.
The so-called reverse fly design has the hackles and wings secured at the end of the shank opposite the eye, so that the hackles extend radially from the shank where the shank meets the shape, and the tail is secured to the eye of the hook. The fly is constructed in the same manner as the standard fly described above. The resulting fly has the point of the hook concealed in the hackles but, in practice, this design is unbalanced and lacks stability, tending to roll on the water. Also, this design is not very floatable. In commercially-available patterns of this design, called Stealth flies, the turned-down eye penetrates the surface film. Consequently, although long known, reverse flies have not achieved acceptance.
Another factor determinative of the commercial success of a fly is its ease of manufacturability, i.e., the complexity of tying the fly. The more difficult and, thus, the more time-consuming the fly is to tie, the higher the cost of the resulting fly to account for the increased labor cost.
Typically, flies are tied while secured in a vise that clamps the shape and point of the hook. One of the more time-consuming aspects of tying the fly is changing the position of the hook in the vise to provide better access to a portion of the hook. The location of the material on the fly limits the areas that the vise can clamp to those areas not covered with material. Attempts to secure the hook in the vise at a single position while the fly is being tied have, traditionally, consumed additional time because the fly is held at an awkward angle, making fly-tying even more difficult. This difficulty is only partly alleviated by using an articulating fly-tying vise, and remains a concern in the design of new fly patterns for commercial production.
Accordingly, a need remains for a design of an artificial fly, suitable for dry flies, which is highly floatable, stable, and conceals the hook. In addition, the design and method of tying such a fly should make it easy to tie, and preferably permit the fly to remain clamped in one position while being tied.